Folding display-easel.



I. H. WILLIAMSON.

FOLDING DISPLAY EASEL.

LlcATmN FILED SEPT AP 1915. 1 ,24,920. Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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JQSEPH H. WLLMSQN, @F CHECAG, ILLINOIS.

FLD'NG DISPLAY-@ABEL incenso.

1wTo @ZZ whom may concern.'

Be it known that l, dosare" Warmer@ soN, a citizen of the 1United -States, residing at Chicaoo, in the county oiiCoolr and State of illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in' Folding Display- Easels, of which the following1 is a specilica tion.

My invention relates to improvements in display easels, such as are commonly used on store counters and in similar places for holding and displaying,1 in attractive man ner, small articles, such as boxes, tubes, loottles, and the like.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an easel of card-board, or similar relatively-stili' non-metallic material on which a vertising matterfmay be displayed, that may readily be folded dat, for insertion in a packe "e orZ articles as supplied .to the retail merc ant, or for shipment in Amoet convenient form.

Another object-oi myinvention is to provide such an easel'which shall be made oit' comparatively few parts readily cut from a sheet of cardboard without amaterial amount of waste.

Another object ci my invention is to provide such an easel in which all ot the parts are permanently connected, are arranged to give strength and stability inuse, and the erection of which is so simple and obvious from itsvery 'construction as to practically eliminate the necessity. for directions as to its use.

@ther and further objects will become apparent to those skilled in this articular art from a consideration of the ollowing description and drawings wherein:

Fi re 1 is a perspective view of my easel showing it in erected position with packages set in its ront face for displa Fi 2 is a side elevation of the easel w en co lapsed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the easel when erected for use. Fig. d is a front elevation of the erected easel showing two oackagesin position; Fig. is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3: and Fig. 6 shows a modified embodiment of my invention. v

ln the drawin wherein li have illustrated a preferredI form' of my invention it will be noted that the easel com rises in .general a base art, a front lim on or throughd which t e" articles to be displayed aie' positioned, a loe/cls limb, and an up;

Specieaticn o. Letters testent.

YbackV limb to f wardly extending rejection integral with one oit said limbs adapted tocarr'y advertising matter or instriictions tor use orn the articles. @ne of said limb-s has ahinge or told-score therein so that said limb may toldbetween the base and the other limb, and means are provided to prevent such rleiding or collapsing,q from taking1 place when the easel is in use.

Referring to the specific fornita'l my invention which l have illustrated, the ntl-= menal 10 indicates the base part of the easel, beinga rectangular portion forming? a support therefor and adapted to rest upon the show case, counter or other place where the articles are to be. displayed. Linge-connected as at 11, to the iront edge of the base 10, there extends upwardly and rearwardly a dat display surface 12, which, for convenient reference l will term the :front limb of the structure and upon or through which the articles being` advertised are displayed. For many purposes l have found that this display surface is best positioned at approximately degrees trema horizontal plane,

but of course the angle may be varied. The

upper edge ot the front limb is hinge connected at 13 with thebaclr limb 14. @ne of these two limbs, preferably front limb 12, ll have prolonged to form a vertical to eX- tension 15 or a back-ground, as it mig t be. termed, upon which advertising matter, di-` rections as to the use of the article information may be placed.

The back limb of the structure l above. referred to, extends vertically from the base at a'point 16 in alinement with the vertically or; simliar extending top section 15, beingprovided at its lower end with a foot 17 hinge connected thereto as at 16 and pasted or otherwise secured to the upper surface'ot a rear extension 10. oi the base 10. A'lhe upper section of the back limb 14: extends upwardly along the rear surface ot the top extension 15 a slight distance above the hinge point 13 and 1s securely. pasted or otherwise iastended thereto, as at 18.

From the above it is evident that a trianlar structure is formed by the base, the lllont and'thevback limb, the material being creased for hingingg connection at the points 1l, 13, and 16. ch an arrangement, because of its trian lar ormatmn, would not, of course, col apse if hind only at its corners and l have, therefore, scored the t.. ahinge at a point 19, the

" Patented Nov. Ml, 191@ I Application died September te, i915. serial Nathalie.

ety

. base as shown in Fig. 2. "The structure,

distance of which above the base is determined by the. relative dimensions of the three sides of the triangle. This arrangement permits the lower section 14 of the back limb between hinges 16 and 19 to` fold forwardly upon the base and the upper section 14 of the back limb 14 to fold rearwardly upon its .foot 17, the front limb 12 at the same time folding rearwardly and overlying the folded back limb 14 and the when folded, assumes .the position indicated in Fig. l2.

To aid in holding the easel in its erected Yform I preferably provide a strut or brace member 20 positioned against the inner face of the back limb and extending from the base upwardly toa point above the hinge 19. 'The sides taper upwardly slightly as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4.l Thisv brace member is glued or vsecured in any suitable manner to the back limb only above the hinge 19. When' the easelis erected the free bottom edge of this bracev preferably bears on the base, so tending to hold the easel erect. A locking tongue 21 struck up from the base by forming a U-shape cut therein, serves, when forced upwardly as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, to.` prevent the hinge 19 from folding forwardly. Specifi-l cally such tongue holds the lower end of the strutk 20 against the lower end of the back limb, thus locking the hinge- 19 against /folding forward and so preventing the collapse of the easel.

In the form illustrated I have shown the front limb or display surface as provided with two tiers of openings 22, through which articles A may be inserted and held in position, the lower tier of articles resting upon the base 10 and the upward tier resting upon f a'shelf `23 formed by bending the upper end ofthe strut member '20 forward at right angles as indicated inFig. 3., .It will be apparent, however, that the manner of placing the articles on the 4easel for display may be. varied, any suitable cuts, rests, stitching or the like being provided as necessary to display the particular articles in desired fashion. For instance, in Fig. 6, I have shown a modied embodiment of my invention wherein the article A', inserted through is used other methods, such as ypasting a strip of fabric across the'joint, may be rea single large opening 22 itself acts, -by abutmentagainst the hinged part 19 to -prevent collapse of the vertical rear leg. Other variations will occur to those skilled in the art, to meet particular users requirements.`

The hingesto which I have referred may .readily be formed in heavy cardboard by scoring one side', or if a thinner material sorted to.

To collapse the easel it is necessary only to remove the articles'gahd depress the locking tongue4 21, after which the 4front `and back llimbs fold rearwardly upon the base,

as indicated in Fig. 2. The reverse operal tion is correspondingly simple, and as the parts are all permanently connected it, is obvious to any one handling the lcollapsed structure that all that is necessary to set up the device is to raise 'the ack member into vertical position and push up the locking tab 21.

` In its broadenaspects my present easel has some features in common with the easel shown in my copending application, Serial No. 51,307, filed of even date herewith, but

`such common features are claimed in said application.

IVhereas I have illustrated and described a single embodiment of my invention it is obvious that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I 1. A collapsibledisplay easel comprising' a base member, a front member and a back member disposed to form a triangular structure hinge connected at its corners,

vtherebeingy a hinge formed in one of said members intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, and means to lock the last mentioned hinge from movement in either direction when the easel is erected and rigidly hold the hinge connected parts of the'last mentioned member in the same plane.

2. A collapsible display easel comprising a base member, a front member and a backl member disposed to form'a triangular structure hinge connected at its corners, there at ,its corners, there 'beingxa hinge formed in' one of said members intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, a brace secured to the last mentioned member at one side of the aforesaid hinge and extendingsacross the hinge, and means adapted to lock the free end of the brace to its connected member at the opposite side of said hinge when the easel iserected.

4. A collapsible display easel comprising base, front, and back members arranged to form atriangular structure hinge connected at its corners, there being a hinge formed in the back member intermediate its ends I'to permit collapse of the structure, anda base, front, and back members arranged to form a triangular structure hinge connected at' its corners, there being a hinge formed in the back member intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, a brace secured to the inner face of the back member at one side of the aforesaid hinge and extending across the hinge to a point adjacent the base, and a locking tongue formed from the base member adapted when erected to hold the'free end of the brace against the inner face of the back member and lock the easel in extended position.

6. A collapsible display easel comprising a base member, a front member and a back member disposed to form a triangular structure hinge connected at its corners, a hinge formedin the back member intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, and means for positively locking the hinge connected parts of the back member. in the same plane, said front member having an opening therein through which an article to be displayed may be inserted.v

7. A collapsible display easel comprising a base member, a front member and aback member disposed to form a triangular structure hinge connected at itscorners, a hinge formed in the back member intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, a brace for locking the hinge when the easel is erected, said front lmember having two tiers of openings formed therein to receive articles for display, the lower ends of the f articles positioned within the lowest tier ot' openings resting upon the base, and a shelf y hinge-connected to the aforesaid brace and adapted to support the lower ends of the articles inserted in the upper tier of openings 8. A collapsible display easel comprising base, front and back members disposed to form a triangular structure hinge connected at its corners, there being a hinge formed in the back member intermediate its ends to permit collapse of the structure, a brace secured to the inner face of the back member at the upper side of the hinge. and extending across the hinge to points adjacent the base, means for securing the free end of the brace to the back member at the opposite side of the hinge to lock the easel. in erected position, said front member havingperforations formed therein to receive i articles for display,and an extension on the upper end of the brace adapted to be bent at right angles thereto and form a shelil to support the lower ends of articles inserted through the aforesaid openings.

v9. A collapsible display easel comprising base andI front and backlimbs, hingedly connected at their edges to form When erected a generally-triangular structure, there being a hingefformed in one of said limbs collapsible to fold said limb Abetween the base and the other limb, an extension support integral with the base .and extending rearwardly therefrom, and a Hap hingedly connected to the lower end of the back y limb and secured to the base extension.

In, testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. Y

' JOSEPH H. WILLIAMSON. In the presence of- STANLEY W. COOK, MARY F. ALLEN. 

